1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an airline passenger seat of flame-retarding construction with seat and back-rest upholstery formed of polyurethane foam, which is provided with a flame-retarding surface and is covered by a covering material with flame-retarding properties.
2. Description of the Prior Art
According to the most recent specifications of the U.S. flight authorities FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), more stringent tests on the interior fittings of airplanes have been prescribed as a result of findings from airplane accidents, so as to increase the available rescue time in a post-crash or inflight fire by from 40 to 60 seconds. Achievement of this protective measure is to be determined by subjecting the airline seat having foam upholstery to an oil burner flame at 1010.degree. C. for 2 minutes during testing, corresponding to a radiation intensity of 11.5 W/cm.sup.2 on the surface.
The weight loss of the seat upholstery after this test should then be at most 10%, without further smouldering or dropping of molten foam masses occurring. In order to meet this specification, it has thus far been customary to cover the upholstery foam solely with a non-flammable covering material or an interliner of glass fibre woven material or to sew the foam upholstery therein. Such a flame-retarding finish, however involves substantial costs and furthermore causes comfort of the passenger to be impaired since the air permeability is substantially reduced. Furthermore, the cleaning of dirty covers which are treated in this manner is inadequate and unsatisfactory.